Shouting out the name of a completely different band than the one that's playing, preferably one that's close enough to seem like an honest error (i.e. yelling out "SIGUR ROS!!!" at a Mum show).

Shouting "Blueshammer!" at a band whose riffage is getting a little too chug-a-lug (director's commentary: Blueshammer being the frat-boy blooze act from Ghost World).

The all-purpose cry of "FILLER!" when a band busts out one of the omnipresent lesser tracks from its newest release.

Some bands, however, make the wise choice of leaving the filler off the LP and choose instead to segregate it onto a collectible EP-- you know, for fans. That's the path Luna's taken with Close Cover Before Striking, a companion piece to their album Romantica from earlier in the '02. All the usual suspects are here: outtakes from the original sessions, covers, an instrumental, enhanced video files.

Funny thing, though: it ain't half bad! For one, thirty minutes and seven songs of Luna seems just about right these days, when they've settled into a stable but enjoyable holding pattern of midtempo guitar rock. For two, because it kicks off with "Astronaut", which pits Indian-war-cry effects guitar against Wareham's patented deadpan delivery, mixing in some peppy drums to keep the affair from getting too sleepy. It all leaves you reveling in just how good that Luna formula can still sound.

After the peak of "Astronaut" it's all downhill, though more of a pleasant log roll down a slow incline than a jump off a cliff. While Romantica oozed springy sunshine and baseball matinees (as described by the very talented writer of our site's exceptional review), Close Cover seems to collect the darker material from those sessions-- and just in time for the Fall months. Less lovey-dovey stuff and less "oodles and oodles," the whimsy of Wareham's lyrics has a more devilish slant, be it evoking images of "tiny nightmares in the sky" or telling you that he wants to "feed you Diazepam."

But maybe it's just the plunging mercury getting me down, as most tracks here still have that same airy Luna quality to keep them miles away from dismalness. A little too much of that breeziness, perhaps, as "Teenage Lightning", "The Alibi", and "New Haven Comet" drift by without leaving much of a trail, warm, barely remembered dreams. "Drunken Whistler", the obligatory sans-vocal outtake, even seems a little half-finished, only saved by a keyboard preset drumloop that keeps coming and going like an evening mosquito.

As for the covers, the Rolling Stones' "Waiting on a Friend" isn't much of a stretch for the band, coming as it does from the poppier side of the Jagger/Richards catalog. Other than Wareham's tremulous voice converting the main character "watching girls passing by" from sleazy to shy, it's a straight reading, right down to the shimmer guitars. Taking on "Neon Lights" is a more intriguing choice, given that Kraftwerk and Luna are two bands rarely thought to be in the same ballpark, or nation, or continent. But it's a little bit disappointing to hear just how completely the group envelops the computer spasms of the original with their own sound, leaving us with another Luna-ish song rather than a scary mutant hybrid of the two bands.

But these are all minor quibbles; as leftovers, Close Cover Before Striking is more akin to day-old pizza than three-week-old pasta. As a supplemental EP, it holds more potential for repeated listening than for under-bed dust-collecting, and continues the gratifying solid streak Luna's been on of late. So, Dean, next time you're playing DC and you hear some asshole yelling "Galaxie 500!!!" at you from the crowd, know that I'm just giving you a playful heckle. What do you expect if you don't give me much to yell "FILLER!" about?